?A thousand pardons. Assault and battery not permitted without license from boxing commission.? ?Fictional, inscrutable movie Detective Charley Chan.
You don?t have to be as crafty as the cinema detective of the 1930s to put two and two together in the case of Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton and the likeliehood that they will fight each other this Nov. 8.
But recent developments in the situation bring to mind another fantastic Chan bromide, ?Mind like parachute, only work when open.?
Trainer Freddie Roach did not have to seek advice from his accountants. Roach came out pulblcily Monday with the old ?I?m not a promoter but?? Roach made it clear to one and all that he wants Megamanny to grab the brass ring, meaning to strike when the iron is hot, bla, bla, bla.
Roach is not hot to trot for Pacman to fight unbeaten Edwin Valero in November because the money will look like salted peanuts compared to the big bonanza that is Pacquiao-Hatton.
Manny then tossed his own match onto the boxing bonfire, telling reporters that ?I might fight Hatton? in his next bout. You can be sure that Roach has assured Megamanny that he will carry 140 pounds just as smoothly as he carried 135 (actually 147 on fight night) against punchbag David Diaz.
This leaves promoter Bob Arum spinning like the spinmeister supreme that he has been since crashing the big time with his first show, George Chuvalo vs. Muhammad Ali at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, 1966.
While Arum speaks as though windmill puncher Valero is signed and sealed, Charley Chan would quickly deduce, with open mind, that any such contract has a contingency clause which permits Valero to be sandbagged if Hatton can come on board.At the end of the day, Pacman and his belovbed trainer would outvote Uncle Bob, 2-1.
What about party of the third part, Yo Paulie Malignaggi? Here?s where the barbecue sauce goes on the meat so to speak.
Boxingconfidential.com has learned there was a hush, hush, invitation only meeting at Smith & Wollensky?s Manhattan Steakhouse Monday night which brought Malignaggi promoter Lou DiBella to a hands across the table with Arthur ?Big Cigars? Pelullo.
Educated guess here is that Pelullo, formerly Hatton?s American promoter and still friendly with Poppa Ray and Ricky Hatton and Hatton lawyer Gareth Williams, was the courier of a lucrative offer from Team Hatton for Malignaggi to step aside and let the big match happen.
One witness said DiBella left the restraurant smiling like he is in the catbird?s seat. Speculation is that the Hattonites, who also include Golden Boy, will sweeten the pot (not the kind you smoke) so as to make it impossible for DiBella and Malignaggi to say no.
Charley Chan and No. 1 Son will stay on this case.
As Chan once said, ?Huge porterhouse goes down gullet like melted butter but ties up intestinal highway like five truck collision.?
